Japan plans to harvest hydrates

A bigger worry is evidence that the undersea ice may already be melting. In September, Matsumoto joined a research party in the Sea of Japan to follow up on a

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, Jan 19, 2008

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A bigger worry is evidence that the undersea ice may already be
melting. In September, Matsumoto joined a research party in the Sea of
Japan to follow up on a 2006 discovery by his university colleagues of
methane gas bubbles rising from the ocean floor.

Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Fifty-five million years ago the world's
climate was catastrophically changed when volcanoes melted natural gas
frozen in the seabed. Now Japan plans to drill for the same icy
crystals to end its reliance on imported energy.

Billions of tons of methane hydrate, frozen chunks of chemical-laced
water buried in sediment some 3,000 feet under the Pacific Ocean
floor, may help Japan win energy independence from the Middle East and
Indonesia. Japanese engineers have found enough ``flammable ice'' to
meet its gas use demands for 14 years. The trick is extracting it
without damaging the environment.

Japan is joining the U.S. and Canada in test drilling for methane even
as scientists express concerns about any uncontrolled release of the
frozen chemical. Some researchers blame the greenhouse gas for
triggering a global firestorm that helped wipe out the dinosaurs.

``Methane hydrate was a key cause of the global warming that led to
one of the largest extinctions in the earth's history,'' says Ryo
Matsumoto, a University of Tokyo scientist who has studied frozen gas
since 1987. ``By making the best use of our wisdom, knowledge and
technology, we should be able to utilize this wisely as a new
energy.''

If successful, the gas drilling project could help Japan reduce a
liquefied natural gas import bill that last year was 2.66 trillion yen
($23.3 billion). The country's LNG imports totaled 62.2 million metric
tons, equivalent to 3.03 trillion cubic feet, according to the
Ministry of Finance's trade report.

``We are closely watching the government's methane hydrate project,
expecting some day to start receiving gas via pipelines from the
continental shelf,'' says Toshiharu Okui, deputy general manager of
gas resources at Tokyo Gas Co., the country's largest distributor of
natural gas.

500 Meters Thick

Trapped within sheets of ice up to 500 meters (1,640 feet) thick is an
estimated 40 trillion cubic feet of crystalline methane encased in an
ocean trench called the Nankai Trough, 30 miles (50 kilometers) off
the coast of the main Honshu Island.

``Reserves aren't as much as Saudi Arabia's or Russia's, but they will
contribute to us cutting our heavy dependence on imports,'' says
Yoshifumi Hashiba, deputy director of the trade ministry's petroleum
and natural gas division.

Exploiting the Nankai Trough depends on developing technical know-how
through a test project in Canada's frozen north, says Kenichi Yokoi,
team leader of the methane hydrate research project at
state-controlled Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., known as
Jogmec.

``Test production in Canada's permafrost is the key to provide clues
and determine how methane hydrate can be tapped for mass production,''
says Yokoi. ``Conventional drilling technologies won't be applied for
methane hydrate exploitation.''

Test Drilling Results

The most efficient method has proved ``depressurizing,'' which
requires deep bore holes being drilled into the ice sheets. Pressure
within the chamber is reduced by a pump, causing gaseous methane to
separate from the water and ascend to the well head.

A first round of drilling was completed in April by Jogmec and the
Canadian government and a second set of tests are scheduled for early
2008. The two governments won't disclose results due to a
confidentiality agreement, Jogmec's Yokoi says.

Commercial exploitation of methane hydrate is economically viable when
oil trades above $54 a barrel, Japan's government estimated two years
ago. The trade ministry is targeting 2016 to start production,
corresponding with the scheduled completion of the 16-year
government-led test project.

While governments are attracted to an abundant clean fuel, drilling
risks disturbing the seabed and triggering an uncontrolled release,
says Matsumoto of the University of Tokyo.

``A mass release of methane into the sea and the atmosphere is a risk
for global warming,'' he says. ``Massive landslides at the ocean floor
must be avoided when drilling at the Nankai Trough.''

Undersea Landslides

Undersea landsides triggered by volcanoes that occurred more than
fifty million years ago resulted in the release of methane hydrate,
contributing to global warming that lasted tens of thousands of years,
says Matsumoto.

Japan's government is promising rigorous environmental controls with
gas-leakage detectors and monitoring systems in place before the
scheduled test drilling in as early as 2009.

Among other concerns are that the separation of sea water and colder
fresh water will cause ocean temperatures in the Nankai Trough to
fall, says Hashiba. The area is a habitat for red sea bream, a fish
delicacy.

Fishing Bank Threat

``We're worried that drilling work might harm our fishing banks out
there and eventually reduce our catches of red sea bream,'' says
Hironori Watanabe at the Katsuura City fishery association.

A bigger worry is evidence that the undersea ice may already be
melting. In September, Matsumoto joined a research party in the Sea of
Japan to follow up on a 2006 discovery by his university colleagues of
methane gas bubbles rising from the ocean floor.

``It's ironically recurring,'' Matsumoto says. ``Extinction of living
organisms has repeatedly taken place in the earth's history, and dead
bodies were accumulated in soil and under the sea bed, and turned to
oil and natural gas.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Shigeru Sato in Tokyo atssato10@... ;
Last Updated: December 25, 2007 11:13 EST

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